


Emerald and Sapphire

by CactusJuice



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Related, F/F, F/M, Female Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Romantic Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-29 05:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3884155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CactusJuice/pseuds/CactusJuice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra doesn't know when she started caring about what Mako's girlfriend thought of her.  A collection of one-shots about the evolution of Korra and Asami's relationship throughout the series.  </p><p>Now on Chapter 3, The Art of Fighting:  </p><p>It only happens when Korra and Asami spar each other:  A small, vindictive voice in Asami's head whispers traitorous thoughts.  It seduces her with the prospect that this untamed, primal version of Korra belongs to her alone.  It says that her eyes are privy to things about Mako’s girlfriend that he has never seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One Little Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra doesn't know when she started caring about what Mako's girlfriend thought of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a slightly altered take on the scene from Book 1, episode 8 where Ikki spills the beans about Korra's feelings for Mako to Asami.

 

**One Little Lie**

Ikki, that little traitor.

_"Asami, did you know that Korra likes Mako?_

_"Oh," Asami replies to Ikki, eyes full of uncertainty, "uh no, I wasn't completely aware of that."_

As much as Korra would love to strangle Tenzin's youngest daughter, she knows it's probably a terrible idea to kill her prior incarnation's grandchild. Plus there's the fact that Ikki is one of only four remaining airbenders in existence. She doesn't particularly feel like adding partial air nation genocide to her growing list of half-baked Avatar failures.

Instead, she maturely (for Korra, at least) settles for kicking the young airbender out of the room and slamming the shoji doors in the shrimpy blabbermouth's face.

"Run along, Ikki!"

She sucks in a breath. She can't believe the little twirp! Of all the times for Ikki to blurt  _that_  out.

Korra can't afford to lose Asami's trust. Not now, not after Korra's actions have taken away almost everything Asami's ever known.

The Avatar knows it's not her fault that Hiroshi Sato is an Equalist. Yet she can't quite believe that Asami actually made the tough choice of choosing her friends over her own father. Korra's ashamed to admit that she feels relieved that the older girl's strength took that particular burden off her inexperienced shoulders.

But for this, Korra knows she's at fault. She kissed someone else's boyfriend. Tried to steal Mako from right under Asami's nose. And the older girl had absolutely no clue. Until now.

_Well played, Korra._

Korra releases the breath she's been holding with a sigh.

She doesn't know when she started caring about what Mako's girlfriend thought of her.

But sometime between Tarrlok's ball and Asami's rescue of Korra's little crew, she grew to respect the raven-haired beauty.

Korra turns away from the doors and back towards the displaced heiress, who silently stares out the window. Asami's gaze is somewhere far away, caught in another time, another place. For the first time since they arrived on Air Temple Island, Korra thinks that Asami looks like she did on the airship on that fateful night. Lost.

Before the guilt overwhelms her, Korra walks towards Asami and pipes up.

"So . . . here's your room! I know this is a little rustic compared to what you're used to."

As Asami turns her head, Korra notices a slightly crumpled expression on her face. Before Korra can blink it's gone, replaced by the heiress's flawlessly graceful smile.

"I think it's really charming . . ."

Asami's facade begins to crack again as a pained look threatens to creep up her normally composed features. She swiftly turns her head away, walks towards the window, and continues talking.

". . . and the best part about it is that nothing here reminds me of my father."

Korra hears the older girl's voice waver slightly at the mention of Hiroshi. She's about to say something when Asami turns to look at her again.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Despite Asami's attempt at a smile, Korra sees sadness in the emerald pools staring back at her. But there's also a deep, genuine gratitude in her voice.

Korra thinks it's no wonder that Mako chose Asami. How can she possibly compare to someone so beautiful, so graceful, so  _refined_. In comparison, Korra thinks she's the proverbial komodo-rhino in a tea shop.

"Hey, no problem. It's the least I can do after . . . everything."

The word hangs in the air for a moment before Asami responds with a renewed resolve in her voice.

"It's not your fault. My father made his choice and I made mine."

She makes it sound so simple, but Korra knows it's anything but. It makes her realize exactly what it is she admires about Asami. She's strong. And not just as a fighter. She's strong in a way that Korra never understood until now.

"I know, Asami. But the truth is, none of us would be here if it weren't for you. What you did couldn't have been easy. Heck, I don't know if  _I_ could have done it."

A disbelieving grin flits across Asami's mouth before she responds.

"Come on, that's ridiculous. You and the guys would have done the same if things were reversed."

Korra doesn't feel like she deserves the unconditional trust Asami heaps on her. She can't even bring herself to tell the young heiress what she's done with Mako behind her back. Korra doesn't want to take away the one thing Asami has left to lean on for support. All she can do is reaffirm her gratitude for the older girl's decision to stand by them.

"All I'm saying is that I wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't decided to save us. But you did," Korra smiles, "so thanks."

Asami smiles back.

"It was the right thing to do."

They stand there, emerald looking on sapphire. A kind of understanding forges between them. Like it or not, they're in this together.

After a beat, Asami breaks the silence.

"Can you tell me one thing?"

"What is it?"

"You never denied what Ikki said."

And there it is again. Korra's dirty little secret. The one thing she's done that could completely undermine Asami's trust in her. Her gaze shifts to the floor because she can't quite look Asami in the eye while she answers in half-truths.

"Look, it's nothing to worry about."

Asami steps closer.

"What do you mean?"

Korra glances back up and meets Asami's eyes. She looks almost as if she's searching for something in Korra's cerulean gaze, bracing for a painful impact. It makes Korra feel a little better about omitting the fact that she planted one on her boyfriend.

"A while ago, I told Mako that I had feelings for him. But he turned me down. He chose you."

A look of surprise washes over Asami's face. A breathless "oh" is all she can manage in response.

Korra takes advantage of Asami's momentary state of shock to drive the point home. She locks gazes with the other girl and speaks the next words as if she believes them with all her heart.

"Like I said, nothing to worry about. I've gotten over it, and Mako and I are still friends. He really does care for you, you know."

The tension slowly eases out of Asami's stance and a weak smile begins to turn up on the corners of her mouth. Korra returns it.

One little lie to preserve whatever this is that's growing between them. She's not sure if she likes the way it sits in her stomach.

"Korra, thanks for being honest with me."

If only.

Mercifully, the sound of someone knocking on the door keeps her from piling one lie on top of another.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Feedback is greatly appreciated!


	2. Nothing But Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is over. Tonight they are nothing but strangers. And perhaps they will remain so for the rest of her life. 
> 
> An outtake between Asami and Korra from Book 1 shortly after Amon's defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in Book 1 after Amon's defeat while team Avatar makes their way to the South Pole.

**Nothing But Strangers**

 

Korra can’t remember a time when she ever feared the sea.

 

In her deepest memories, life-giving water wraps her in a protective embrace. It gently carries her mother’s lullabies to her unborn ears and swirls ever so gently in response to her unconscious little kicks.  Even in her mother’s womb, Korra is already a waterbender. 

 

As a child, the sea becomes her playground.  Water is her best friend and her partner in crime.  The sea doesn’t judge or scold her.  It does her bidding and plays the games she tells it to play. On the sad days it comforts her with the same protective embrace she’s known since the day she was conceived in her mother’s belly.  It is the one place where she feels truly safe.

 

When Korra grows into a teenager her love for the sea grows with her.  Despite her brash exterior, she has a deep appreciation for the elegance of waterbending.  The movements come naturally to her, like a dance etched into her soul. She begins to understand that this element, more than any other, is truly a part of who she is.

 

Korra sneaks out of the White Lotus compound whenever the full moon rises. She steals away to meet the waters of the Southern Sea and glides on the waves, playing out fantasies that she never admits to anyone else.  Korra reenacts the old tales from foreign nations; the ones about princes and princesses that meet in fancy ballrooms and dance in extravagant galas. She’s never left the South Pole, so she imagines what such things are like.  The cresting waves take on the roles of her imaginary dance partners.  They bow and curtsy, then dip and spin at her command. 

 

On those nights, away from the prying eyes of the White Lotus, the fantasy makes her forget that she is the Avatar.  Surrounded by the sea, under the full moon’s light, she is just a girl dancing the night away with her closest friends.

 

* * *

 

 

When they lower what is left of her mother into the ground, Asami clings to her father like a lifeline. 

 

At six years old, tragedy teaches her just how easily the things she loves can be taken away.  She cries into her father’s shoulder and begs him to never leave her.  He soothes her with soft reassurances and heartfelt promises.

 

_You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to your mother and me.  I promise I’ll always be here to protect you.  They’ll never tear us apart._

 

For a long time all they have is each other.  It is Asami and Hiroshi against the world.  And little by little they conquer it together.  She is confident that even if everything falls apart, they will still have each other.

 

Asami follows in her dad’s footsteps without him having to ask.  Engineering comes as naturally to her as it does to her father.  They spend long days and nights working together and bonding over how to improve their inventions. They share in each other’s failures and triumphs.  She remembers each time her dad picks her up in his arms and spins her around in celebration, congratulating her on a job well done.  Whenever he puts her back down, his eyes beam with unshed tears of pride.  These moments are sacred treasures that she locks away in her heart.

 

When Korra first accuses her father of being an Equalist supporter, all of her positive feelings about her budding friendship with the Avatar evaporate into the ether. Korra’s allegations awaken a vicious, protective instinct inside of her.  She will not let this impetuous young girl (Avatar or not) smear the name of the one person she holds most dear.

 

It hurts her more than she can comprehend when she learns that Korra is right.

 

When Hiroshi asks her to join him at Amon’s side, she realizes that she doesn’t know him at all.  He blames benders for her mother’s death and hates them with a passion that goes beyond his love for anything they’ve built together. It all feels like a bad joke.  How can he keep something so central to his being hidden from her for all these years? He knows that she admires benders and their abilities.  Does he secretly look at her with hate and disgust?  Is his pride in her merely an act?  Her entire world tilts on its axis at the thought.

 

Asami remembers the one lesson from Hiroshi that she holds above all others: Your worth is determined by your ability to stand by your own principles.  It’s something he says constantly whenever he is interviewed about the success of Future Industries.

 

The Equalist message wraps itself in sweet words, but it tastes sour on her tongue.   There is no way she can support a philosophy that judges people for how they were born instead of who they are inside.  It stands against everything she believes in.

 

Asami can’t change who she is now.  Not even for her father.  He may have betrayed her trust, but she will not betray the essence of what he has taught her in their time together.  She doesn’t regret her choice to walk away from him in order to save the Avatar and her friends.  But it doesn’t mean that a part of her doesn’t die inside when she does.

 

When Asami confronts Hiroshi for the final time, he shatters the promise he made to her when she was six years old. 

 

_You ungrateful, insolent child! I now see there is no chance to save you!_

 

The sound of splintering glass and crumpling steel cannot overcome the deafening roar of betrayal that pounds in Asami’s ears.  She doesn’t recognize the eyes of the man who is now trying to crush her to death.  The man she once called “Dad.”  The man who once promised to always protect her.  Hurt and disbelief paralyze her.   

 

Hiroshi is a moment away from killing his own daughter when Bolin intervenes. With the young earthbender’s help Asami knocks down Hiroshi’s mecha, leaving the older man at her mercy. She hesitates to kill her father when she gets the chance.  Hiroshi does not extend her the same courtesy.  Only Asami’s quick reflexes manage to divert the potentially fatal shot fired by her father in his last-ditch attempt to escape.    

 

Her father’s callous disregard for her life is the final blow to their relationship. His actions scream that the years of love and trust between them pale in comparison to his thirst for revenge. His words leave no doubt that she is a failure in his eyes.   

 

In her heart she lowers what is left of her father’s memory into the grave next to her mother’s.

 

Asami is finally an orphan.  She has no family to go home to. 

 

All she has left are her friends, her ideals, and the gutted remains of Future Industries.

 

It is too painful for her to stay in Republic City in the aftermath of the Equalists’ defeat.  

 

With nowhere else to go, she accompanies Avatar Korra to the South Pole.

 

* * *

 

 

Korra’s ship steams through the rough waters of the Southern Sea.  She leans over the steel railing of the deck as it pitches up and down over the waves. The full moon’s reflection creates jagged ribbons of silver over the wind-whipped black water. 

 

The moon and sea are her lifelong companions.  She has revealed more to them throughout her life than she has to any single person. But tonight they ignore her pleas. Tonight they are nothing but strangers.  And perhaps they will remain so for the rest of her life.   

 

Everything is over. 

 

Amon’s Equalist revolution is crushed, but not before he achieves the unthinkable.

 

She is the Avatar no longer.  At least not the way she needs to be. 

 

Now she finds herself accompanied by her friends on a ship heading to the South Pole, hoping that Katara can find a way to restore her bending.  It’s a hard reality for Korra to accept. But the fact that she can still airbend gives her a sliver of optimism.  She tells herself that if she keeps trying, then perhaps her ability to control the other elements will return.

 

Korra fully extends her hand towards the sea and reaches out for the familiar pull of the moon on the water.  She strains with all her might to grasp at the waves below.  But she feels nothing.  The churning waters mock her attempts at reunion.

 

If Korra could still waterbend, she would have detected the large wave heading towards the ship from a mile away.  But her bending is no more, so she fails to sense the wave before it suddenly slams into the side of the boat’s hull. The impact takes her completely by surprise.  It violently rocks the deck sideways, tipping Korra’s already outstretched body over the top of the railing. 

 

For a split second she finds herself suspended in air, staring at the inky blackness of the water beneath her.  The roiling waves below froth at the mouth.  Korra knows that the water will not welcome her as it has always done in the past. The waves will chew her up and the currents will drag her body to the depths. 

 

For the first time in her life, the Southern Sea frightens her.  If she falls in now, it will kill her. The realization sends shock and terror racing through her veins.

 

Korra feels her body plummet towards the rabid whitecaps.  Panicked, she desperately bends a gust of wind to propel herself upwards and onto the ship’s deck. Unfortunately her airbending technique leaves much to be desired and she falls far short of her mark. 

 

Lunging up with her right hand, Korra barely manages to grab the bottom rail closest to the deck floor.  She yelps in agony when she hears the sickening pop of her right wrist against the lip of the deck. She can tell her wrist is sprained, if not broken.  Tears fill her eyes as she desperately tries to hang on through the pain.  Korra can feel her grip slowly loosening. She doesn’t have long before she falls. 

 

The sea that once nurtured and protected her now attempts to take her life. Its waves conspire to pluck her from the safety of her ship and into its deadly jaws.  The irony of dying at the hands of her birth element is not lost upon her.  She doesn’t know why, but it feels like the deepest of betrayals.  A strangled, angry cry escapes through her tears.

 

She doesn’t want to die.  Not like this.   

 

Her injured wrist is about to give out when slender fingers latch onto her forearm.

 

“I’ve got you!”

 

 _Asami_. 

 

With a strength that takes Korra by surprise, the raven-haired girl hoists the former waterbender over the railing.  Korra hits the deck on her knees, cradling her injured wrist.

 

Asami checks over her frantically.  She places her hands on Korra’s shoulders.

 

“Korra, are you alright?  What happened?”

 

Korra tries to wipe away her tears with her good hand.  She hates it when people see her like this. 

 

Weak.

 

Useless. 

 

Korra realizes that she would most likely be dead by now if not for Asami.

 

She imagines the damning contents of her epitaph:  _Avatar Korra, the only Avatar in recorded history to lose her bending.  Rejected by her native element and victim of a most ignominious death._

 

Korra imagines what she must look like to the older girl.  She must seem pathetic.  An absolute failure. 

 

Every seed of insecurity inside of her germinates at once.  Having to be saved from something as simple as falling off a boat fills her with a crushing humiliation unlike anything she’s ever felt before. 

 

She stares at the floor, too ashamed to meet Asami’s gaze.  When she opens her mouth it’s as if someone alien is speaking in her stead.  It’s a small, bitter voice that sounds every bit as wretched as she feels.

 

“It might have been better if you had just let me fall.”

 

A beat passes.  Asami is silent.

 

When Korra finally looks up at her savior she is met with hardened jade eyes. Asami’s lips tremble with barely suppressed emotion.

 

Korra feels the sting of Asami’s open palm connecting forcefully with her cheek.

 

Blue eyes widen with astonishment.  She touches the side of her own face and feels the residual throbbing from where Asami’s hand made contact.  

 

Did Asami just slap her?  

 

“Don’t you _dare_ say something like that again,” Asami hisses, “get a hold of yourself.”

 

Asami’s rebuke ignites the anger and frustration slumbering inside Korra’s belly.

 

“What do you know about it?  You don’t know what it feels like to be a complete failure!”

 

The older girl stares her down, unmoved.

 

“You are many things, Korra.  But I never took you for a coward who looks for the easy way out.”

 

Korra snarls back.  She’ll be damned if she lets this bitch judge her.

 

“Screw you! You don’t know what it’s like when something that’s part of who you are turns on you and tries to destroy you!”

 

The raven-haired girl rises to the challenge, not the least bit intimidated by Korra’s temper.

 

“Oh really? How about having my father try to kill me, his only daughter!  Does that sound close enough to you?  You’re not the only one who lost everything that day!”

 

Asami’s voice cracks in the middle of her outburst.  Her green eyes overflow with tears.  A twisted, bitter scowl mars her features. Korra doesn’t like it at all. For some reason it just looks _wrong_. 

 

A new shame courses through her.  She's the one to blame for the look on Asami's face.  Her heart goes out to the girl in front of her; the one who just saved her life despite everything she’s already lost.

 

The fury dies in her stomach.  Asami is right.  There is no easy way out of this.  Not if she wants to leave with her honor and integrity intact.  They are all she has left, really.  

 

The two of them stay there, staring at each other as their anger gradually deflates.

 

After a few moments Korra surprises herself when she slowly reaches out and wipes a tear from Asami’s cheek. The brunette gasps in surprise from the unexpectedly gentle touch.  Sapphire eyes soften as they meet Asami’s questioning gaze.  

 

“I’m sorry,” Korra apologizes, “for lashing out at you.  You didn’t deserve that.  Not after you just saved my worthless butt.”

 

Ebony locks shift side to side as Asami shakes her head, all forgiven. She takes Korra’s hand and squeezes.

 

“You’re not worthless, Korra.  Can’t you see that?”

 

The compassion in Asami’s voice brings fresh tears to Korra’s eyes.

 

“Why are you so nice to me?” Korra sniffles.  “I can think of a million reasons why you should hate me.”

 

Asami takes a deep breath.  Her gaze, an endless well of patience, never leaves Korra.

 

“There’s something about you.  You can’t hide the person you are inside.  You stand by your principles and by your friends, no matter the cost.  You’re real.  And honest.  I know you don’t think it’s a big deal, but you don’t know how rare that is.”

 

Through her tears Korra is amazed by what she sees in Asami’s emerald orbs.

 

Acceptance.

 

Understanding.

 

Korra feels her breath hitch.  She is so tired of having to defend everything she does.  Tired of justifying every choice she makes.  She doesn’t realize how much she misses having someplace safe to be herself. 

 

She laments the fact that she can no longer dance on the water with no one else to watch or judge her.  

 

But in Asami’s eyes the door to a new refuge opens. 

 

Korra feels the burdens of the past few months bursting through her ruptured defenses. Unable to stop herself, she falls into Asami’s arms and unleashes ugly, unrestrained sobs.  

 

Asami holds her tight.  She does not offer Korra false promises or empty platitudes.  She knows they only lead to disappointment.  Instead, she gives Korra a place to just be.

 

For a short time Korra forgets that she is (or was) the Avatar.  Surrounded by Asami’s embrace, under the full moon’s light, she is just a girl grieving for the loss of old friends in the arms of a new one.    

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how happy I am with this one, but I needed to get it done. Let me know what you think. Feedback is greatly appreciated!


	3. The Art of Fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It only happens when Korra and Asami spar each other: A small, vindictive voice in Asami's head whispers traitorous thoughts. It seduces her with the prospect that this untamed, primal version of Korra belongs to her alone. It says that her eyes are privy to things about Mako’s girlfriend that he has never seen.
> 
>  
> 
> Set between Book 1 and Book 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enough with the angst. Let's have some fun with these two, shall we? How about some Korra and Asami sparring? This piece is set sometime between the end of Book 1 and the beginning of Book 2 in the series.

** The Art of Fighting **

 

“I hate you.”

 

Korra definitely has a way with words. It never fails to bring a grin to Asami’s face.

 

The Avatar shoots a petulant glare up to her sparring partner. 

 

Never mind that she’s flat on her back.   Or that she can’t get up because Asami has her pinned to the mat with a crushing hold.  

 

(And how in the world is it fair that Asami knows a hold that somehow magically multiplies skinny Miss Sato’s body weight by a factor of ten?  Korra _swears_ that people like Asami are the reason why the Avatar exists to bring balance to the world.) 

 

Red lips curl up in delight at the waterbender’s futile struggles. 

 

Korra growls her frustration.

 

“Don’t make me wipe that stupid smirk off your face!”

 

Asami raises an eyebrow at the audacity of the blue-eyed spitfire pinned underneath her.  She thinks Korra’s defiance is kind of cute, in a suicidal sort of way.

 

“Rule number one,” Asami haughtily lectures her younger friend, “never antagonize someone who’s in a dominant position.”

 

She promptly digs an elbow into the Avatar’s side to illustrate her point. 

 

“Gah, stop that!”

 

Asami sends an even more insufferable grin down at her opponent.

 

“Excuse me?  Did you say something?”

 

Korra’s glare only intensifies.

 

“You are so lucky you’re on top right now.”

 

“And whose fault is that?”  Asami interjects.  “You were begging to get taken down with that sloppy combination you threw.”

 

“It was _not_ sloppy!  It was unconventional!”

 

“Unconventional?  Perhaps.  But also ill-conceived.”

 

“I’ll show _you_ ill-conceived when we get back to our feet.”

 

“And what makes you think you’ll be able to get back to your feet when I’m done with you?”

 

The waterbender stiffens at the slightly sadistic look that spreads over her normally sweet friend’s features.   

 

“Uh . . . Asami?”

 

It’s already over.

 

Korra just doesn’t realize it yet.

 

Asami knows the exact number of moves left until checkmate. She is an expert grappler. The Avatar is in _her_ domain now.  The young engineer is patient and methodical.  On the ground, Korra’s impulsive aggressiveness is a liability.

 

All it takes is one small mistake.

 

Instinctively sensing danger, Korra struggles to get up like a cornered wild animal.  Kicking. Thrashing.  Clawing.  Chestnut hair scattered all over.  Feral. 

 

She is breathtaking.

 

Is this what Mako sees when he gets the Avatar behind closed bedroom doors?

 

Asami wonders. 

 

A small, vindictive voice in Asami’s head whispers traitorous thoughts.  It seduces her with the prospect that this untamed, primal version of Korra belongs to her alone. It says that her eyes are privy to things about Mako’s girlfriend that he has never seen _._   She pretends not to listen. 

 

But she still wants to see the Avatar squirm.

 

Patiently (and Korra is anything but patient), Asami sets her plan into motion.   

 

Bit by bit, she boxes in her quarry. She counters every shift of the Avatar’s body underneath her with one of her own.  Each move designed to cut off another avenue for escape.     

 

Inch by precious inch, she takes away every bit of space between their bodies until Korra has none left to even breathe. Asami applies a relentless, unyielding pressure on her opponent’s ribcage.   Like a giant serpent strangling its prey. 

 

Korra’s struggling gradually weakens. Ragged breaths escape her mouth. They turn into half-whimpers when the air refuses to settle in her lungs.

 

Asami locks gazes with her frustrated and exhausted victim.   Those sapphire eyes, so firm in their defiance moments before, begin to waver. Is that a hint of resignation she detects there?  

 

Asami’s smile turns predatory.  _You’re mine_.

 

To the Avatar’s dismay she turns up the pressure even more.  It is a slow, unbearable torture.  Korra becomes so desperate to escape that she all but _gives_ her arm to her opponent, virtually begging for an armbar submission.

 

Asami takes mercy on her friend and puts her out of her misery.  (Miss Sato isn’t _that_ much of a sadist).

 

She traps her opponent’s outstretched arm and slowly hyper-extends Korra’s elbow.  Asami lets go as soon as she feels the Avatar tap.

 

The spent and defeated waterbender flops over until she is face down on the floor.  She huffs an irritated groan into the mat.

 

Victorious, Asami lies down beside her victim and stretches languidly. 

 

She can’t deny that making the Avatar submit gives her a heady feeling.  It’s something neither her father nor Amon could accomplish.  _Oh, the irony_.

 

“I had an epiphany just now,” Korra muffles through the floor.

 

“Really?  What is it?”

 

“You’re actually evil.”

 

Asami bellows a full and throaty laugh. Not unlike an evil genius bent on world domination. 

 

Korra doesn’t know whether to join in on her friend’s laughter or to scurry away in fear.  At the very least Asami would be the prettiest evil genius ever.

 

Asami rolls onto her side so that she can address her tousled friend.

 

“Over a dozen sparring sessions together and you just noticed that about me?”

 

Korra’s prone form shrugs. 

 

“What can I say?  I’m a slow learner.”

 

Asami doesn’t exactly remember when sparring like this became a “regular thing” for the two of them, but she’s glad it is.    

 

She remembers an old saying from one of her former instructors.  _You learn more about a person by fighting them for ten minutes than by talking to them for ten years_.  If that’s the case, then Asami has already learned a lifetime’s worth of knowledge about Korra.  And she doesn’t regret a second of it.

 

Their fighting styles couldn’t be any more different.

 

Asami is a surgeon’s scalpel:  Cool.  Methodical.  Efficient.

 

In a world full of benders, she knows that creating tactical advantages is the only reliable way to win.  She analyzes her opponent, lays traps, and then strikes a decisive blow through the opening created.  There is no wasted motion.  She is a perfect counter-puncher. 

 

Her style relies mainly on technique and guile instead of physical talent.  But it doesn’t mean that she’s against using the occasional well-timed flashy move. She knows the importance of staying unpredictable.  Which is why she loves sparring against Korra.  

 

Asami recognizes something beautifully organic in the way that Korra fights.  Korra is the artist and the fight is her canvas.  Her physicality is the brush and her opponent is the paint. The resulting picture (or smear or splatter, whatever the case may be) is a pure expression of her soul.

 

Korra’s combinations resemble free-style jazz solos, inspired in their creativity and full of surprises.  The musician’s notes, like Korra’s strikes, aren’t preordained.  They just _are_.  Dictated by the spirit of the moment. Which is kind of fitting with Korra being the Avatar. 

 

Korra fights from the heart.  As a result her style can be rash, unbalanced, and messy.  But it is also refreshingly open and earnest.  Pure. It is Korra distilled to her essence.  And Asami loves it.

 

Whenever Asami wins their hand-to-hand sparring matches, she savors the victory.  It’s exhilarating.  Like taming a force of nature.  Or riding a dragon.

 

Finally, Korra rolls over onto her back.

 

She turns her gaze to Asami, the enthusiastic challenge back in her eyes.

 

“So, best two out of three?”

 

Like the force of nature she is, Korra can only be tamed temporarily. 

 

And Asami is glad for that.

 

“You’re on.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this one. Feedback is greatly appreciated!


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